Harper Creek sweeps Sturgis

Battle Creek Harper Creek boys rallied and the girls rolled as the Beavers swept the Trojans in league play.

Harper Creek 55, Sturgis 52 (boys)

The Beavers trailed the Trojans by six heading into the final quarter, but were able to grab the lead then hold off Sturgis’ 3-point attempts in the final seconds to get the victory in SMAC-East play.

Harper Creek (3-4, 2-3 league) took its’ first lead, 42-41, after a Alec Fisher 3-pointer. Sturgis (4-6, 1-5) answered with a pair of free throws to put his team back ahead. But Josh Bass, who led the Beavers with 19 points, responded with a three-point play to put Harper Creek in the lead, as it turned out, for good.

Nate Hicks, who added 11 points, hit a short jumper to give the Beavers their largest lead, 52-46 with around two minutes left. Sturgis was able to close the gap to 54-52 after a Stewart layup, but was unable to tie the game in the final moments.

Sturgis started quickly building a 7-0 edge after a triple by Jalen Cox and held a 7-3 lead after one quarter. The Trojans largest margin, 20-11, came after a trey from Patrick Haas.

It was 23-15 at halftime.

In the third quarter, the lead fluctuated between four and nine points before the Beavers were able to close the gap to 41-35 heading into the final eight minutes.

They started the fourth period with a 7-0 run that put them into the lead for the first time in the game.

Haas, who hit four triples, and Stewart topped the Trojans with 13 points each, Cox tossed in 12, Jack Scheske added 10 off the bench and Eduardo Portillo and Tyler Ater each had two.

Stewart collected eight rebounds to lead Sturgis with Cox grabbing six. Stewart added four assists, two steals and two blocks, while Cox had three assists and Scheske had two steals.

Harper Creek 39, Sturgis 8 (girls)

The roster-depleted Lady Trojans fell to the Beavers on the road Friday in SMAC-East action.

“We’ve had a different lineup every game because of injury or illness,” Sturgis coach Brian Beebe said.

The Trojans had to look to the junior varsity team again, calling up two more players in Morgan Pueschel and Annalisa Cholometes, to battle Harper Creek (7-1, 4-1), which is a honorable mention in this week’s Class B rankings.

The Beavers led 11-1 after one quarter and 23-2 at halftime.

It was 33-4 after three quarters.

“Defensively in the second half, we played pretty well,” Beebe said. “Our kids are doing the best they can.”